My Life Verse

Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

The Great Commission

Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

There will be a Missions Awareness/Gospel Concertat First Baptist Norcross on Oct 16, 2009 at 7:00pm.This concert is free and will feature: Gary Menzies - Pianist Beverly Minor - Soloist Chris Britt - actor performing part of the book of "Matthew" Cham Meredith - violinist The Family Heritage Children's Choir

Please come and invite friends to support our work withrefugees and immigrants here in Atlanta. The children areworking very hard to prepare for this event.

Leah, Deborah, and I went and helped with homework yesterday in Clarkston.It was a crazy afternoon. There was only one other volunteer there to help with homework, Ms. Susan, and wehad over 40 kids needing help. All together there are 60 kidssigned up for afterschool program. Susan and I talked about what we would do if they do all show up at one time. As itis kids come and go as they have homework and need help.Needless to say I didn't get any pictures yesterday. We were too busy.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Mark and I just returned from Chamblee at the Apts.We went to check on the Bengali family. We had a reallygood visit with them. The Dad has gotten a job. We also hung out for a little while with some of the kids that come to the mission.

We had a great choir practice on Saturday. It startedraining at the end so we had to help shuttle thechildren to their apartments. It is too bad we didn'tdrive the van. That way we could of just put all the kidsthat come from other complexes in at one time instead ofmaking trips. One good reason to try and keep the old12 passenger van working for now!

Friday, September 25, 2009

We have spent most of this week getting our basement dry.There was no afterschool program on Tuesday since there wasno school. Yesterday we went to Clarkston to help with homeworkand to lead choir. The concert is only 3 weeks away. We had about40 children in choir last night. They are getting really good. We will practice again Saturday.

Monday, September 21, 2009

We have had a few crazy days around here. Friday we watchedSpencer and had a wonderful time playing. Saturday Mark and I went out to Decatur to check out the other buildboard withHannah's picture. It is at the intersection of N. Decatur Rdand East Ponce de Leon. We did a quick shopping at DekalbFarmers market while we were there. That is always a realcross cultural experience. Sunday we had church and Leahand Deborah had play practice. Last night it rained and rained.This morning we woke up to a flooded basement- maybe 4 inches.I think it has rained the whole week. They say 20 inches in thelast 3 days. We have spent the whole day working in the basement.I took these picture at the end of our street - 5 houses from us.One house is waist high in the basement. If you turn the cornerthe other house is head high in the basement. They were out in the yard so I didn't want to photograph their loss!The pictures are at the end of our street.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Deborah, Leah, and I left the house at 2:00 today in the pouring rain. A lot of the roads were flooded. We finally just pulled over and waited for the rain to slow down alittle before going on to Clarkston. Today was choir so weneeded to bring in all the music. I decided to leave the keyboardat home since it was raining so hard. First we helped the kidswith homework. We then had a really good choir rehearsal. By thetime the kids left it wasn't raining any more. When we gothome at 7:45 we had a good dinner that Sarah had cooked forall of us!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Yesterday Mark and I went to Chamblee so I could doEnglish with a Mom from Bangladesh. Unfortunatelyno one was home. Sometimes I just have days like thatwhere I feel all the effort is wasted.

Today Leah, Deborah, and I went to Clarkston to help withhomework. It seemed like some of the kids had none whilea few had a ton. Bennett and I talked about the upcomingconcert in October at First Baptist Norcross. Joe Scott,another mission partner came in while we were leaving.

Monday, September 14, 2009

One of the things lacking in the Limpera Mountainsof Honduras and in the Lenca community is lack ofhealthcare. One afternoon we came across a father and son who were hitching a ride down the mountain.The little boy had cut his finger down to the bone.We took them to our hotel. He was bleeding throughthe bandage. I managed to get the bloody bandage offminus gloves to look at the cut. It had already beenstitched up at the clinic but they hadn't put enoughstitches in consequently all the bleeding. I cleanedthe wound and put 2 butterfly bandages on the placeswhich were still open and then put clean pressurebandages on him. He really needed a few more stitches.I doubt however they went back to the clinic.

After the Mom's found out I was a nurse I was ask aboutrashes and coughs. I didn't have any children's medicine so all I could do was give advice and tell them to goto the clinic if they didn't get better. The pastor's wife ask if I would like to come back and live with themand open a clinic for them. One day we had a precious littel girl who had a cleft lip that needs to be repaired.I wonder if it will ever happen for her.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

I returned from Honduras last night. We had a great tripdespite the fact that I was sick the whole time and actuallymade almost everyone else sick. I am slowly getting my voiceback and the coughing has almost stopped.

We had a great time ministering in the Limpera Mountainsto the Lenca Indians, an indigenous group, above the town ofLa Campa at a small village named Santa Teresa. We workedwith over 400 children for VBS. The men put a roof onthe much needed new church building. The old building, whichthey had outgrown, will be turned into a feeding center forthe children. The children are feed an enriched rice casserole3 times a week. Until now they have had to eat outside year round.

The people were really wonderful to us. The Pastors wifefeed us 2 times a day. The amazing thing was that she walked4 hours a day to feed us. The men of the congregation reallytook ownership of their new building and turned out to helpevery day. We would not have completed the roof without theirhelp. The people have no running water,(we used an outhouse),no electricity, and no heat or air conditioning but they arehappy and they love the Lord.

As always, it was a wonderful experience and we were blessedbeyond measure. Words cannot really express what happened on the trip but I am so grateful to a Mighty God who allowed me to be a very small part of this mission. GLORIA DIOS!!!!

About Me

I am native of Atlanta, Georgia. I was raised in a Christian home with great parents and 2 brothers. I have been married since 1983. My husband Mark and I have six biological children - Rachel, David, Hannah, Sarah, Leah, and Deborah. In 2014 my son married Maricela and I gained a daughter and 2 grand-daughters Ashley and Fatima. We are active members of First Baptist Church of Atlanta where Mark and I met in 1982. I am active in Choir, Sunday School, and World Missions. I participated in the Atlanta Passion Play for 28 years. I am now serving as the Director of the International Village in Atlanta, for Youth Outreach United, working primarily in apartment ministry with refugees and immigrants. I love World Missions and have been to Spain, Morocco, Ukraine, Honduras, and Belarus. We home-schooled all 6 of our children. I am a RN with experience in Neonatal ICU and Newborn Nursery.